and we frolicked about in our summer skin.

there are so many things about summer that i absolutely adore. always have. the longer daylight hours, tan skin, dresses, time spent at the river.. it's glorious. My times with the Lord even feel richer when i'm able to walk outside, feel the sun on my skin.. when I can sit and just be.

when i was younger and didn't mind school, it was because i could jet out the door at 7:30 am to find my neighborhood friends and spend the day catching turtles in the pond and building forts until it got dark at 8:45. in high school it was because i could spend as many days as i wanted with my best friends who went to different schools, and we could take countless day trips to the beach, enjoy our newfound freedom of driving, have sleepovers, make stupid music videos and dream about college. in college, it was because it was the only time i got to see my close friends who had moved away, or because one glorious summer i got to live with two of them on the beach all summer, living the dream. those were times that Colin and I could take roadtrips to see friends who have moved away, visit family, and do fun non-school things like go to busch gardens.

now i know it will be different. college graduate. real world. i don't think it gets much more real after being married at 20 and 22 and being plopped into full responsibility, but i like real. i like embracing independence. it kind of weirds me out to think that it's completely normal for our generation to graduate college and go back to their parents' homes and live there for a while while they "figure things out". that's another opinion for another time, though.

this past week i got to focus a lot on doing the things that i neglected the last couple of weeks of school-- the everest-sized pile of dishes, the even higher pile of laundry, endless straightening up, letting my body get better after a week-long sickness, reading for fun (WHAT?), tweezing my eyebrows, and catching up with friends. oh, and grocery shopping. haven't done that in far too long. Colin and I got to go to beautiful Charleston for the day yesterday with some dear friends who are moving out of the area, and get to be part of a book club that will meet around our good friends' and neighbors' campfire. there's something so peaceful about sitting around a fire with good people, sharing drinks, too many laughs, and conversation. it's those nights that we come back to the house and feel absolutely loved by God.

Most importantly, though, has been time with Colin, and best of all attempting more consistency in our time with the Lord and in prayer together. that has been a breath of fresh air. that was one of the hardest things we went through this year, with the absolute most sporadic schedules of all time, never being able to have consistency in even meals. sometimes we would eat dinner at 10-11 at night! seeking the Lord with Colin is right. praying for our friends, family, and the world is right, and so, so good. worshiping the Lord on my knees with Colin right beside me is not only right, but pleasing to Him. if you remember, pray for us that we would continue to seek Him together.

just thought i'd finally write on this thing. i figure that i don't have to have a deep thought to write in our blog-- so, much more often than not, it'll just be life stuff.

grace and peace,
the wife.